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Who is this man of means who appears in a court almost every day to face charges of graft?

He is Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the only Pakistani to be elected prime minister thrice and the chief minister of the largest province twice. He is also the only prime minister in Pakistan's history whose dismissal by the president in 1993 was set aside by the Supreme Court. No politician in the country has been more fortunate than him. And no Pakistani politician has been as unfortunate as him, for he was removed from the post of prime minister thrice, disqualified from holding public office twice, forced into exile for nearly a decade and sentenced to various lengths of imprisonment, including once for life.

Over the last 17 months or so alone, he has been declared ineligible to be a member of Parliament - and, thus, barred from being the prime minister - by the Supreme Court and awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, alongside massive financial penalties, by an accountability court for owning expensive residential properties in London. In another case concerning a steel mill that his family set up in Saudi Arabia in the early 2000s, he has been sentenced to seven years in jail and has been fined 25 million US dollars. While his daughter and son-in-law have also been convicted and sentenced along with him, his party has lost its grip over Punjab in the July 2018 elections after 10 years of continuous rule in the province. He still faces at least one more inquiry and may well be convicted and sentenced again. His brother and three-time chief minister of Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif, is also facing multiple charges of graft as are some other members of their immediate family and many of their loyalists.

How has he come to this pass?

It is a long story and there are extremely intriguing turns in Nawaz Sharif's career. We have to find out why he was abandoned by the forces that had patronised him for nearly two decades. And how did he move from the right side of the judiciary to its wrong one?

It seems three factors have played a decisive role in Nawaz Sharif's fall. First, his desire to be a real prime minister with full powers. Secondly, a streak of impetuosity in his character that impels him to take drastic actions without weighing the risks. And, thirdly, his inability to realise that nobody could be an elected keeper of the folks and a robber baron at the same time. There is also an ironical twist to his career: he soared high as an innocuous and innocent politician but was felled when he appeared to have become a political heavyweight to be reckoned with.

As a young man with plenty of money to spend without earning it, Nawaz Sharif started flirting with politics under air marshal (retired) Asghar Khan's party, Tehreek-e-Istiqlal. He was without recommendation except for the money his father is reported to have set apart for investment in his political career - and which was profitably spent. He owed his rise in politics to three army generals. General Ghulam Jilani, the Punjab governor and former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, gave the break Nawaz Sharif needed by making him finance minister in the provincial government in 1981 and nominating him as Punjab's chief minister after the party-less election of 1985. General Ziaul Haq chose him to secure Punjab as the defender of their shared objective of Islamising the society by pumping enormous money into the province's economy. And General Hamid Gul who, as the ISI chief, helped Nawaz Sharif in 1988 by fostering the formation of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), a coalition of mostly right-wing parties opposed to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). When PPP still managed to win more National Assembly seats from Punjab than IJI did, Gul ensured that Nawaz Sharif retained his hold over Punjab as chief minister to help contain the government of Benazir Bhutto at the centre.

Nawaz Sharif remembered all this. When he became prime minister in 1990, he declared completion of Zia's mission as his goal. The then president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, had won his office in a bargain with Benazir but, as a warrior from the Zia camp, he had a soft corner for Nawaz Sharif. He, however, had inflated ambitions of his own. Nawaz Sharif did not like the president's habit of sitting on files. He also wanted a repeal of the constitution's Article 58-2 (b) which empowered the president to dissolve the National Assembly in his discretion - but the president would not hear this. The prime minister also wanted his say in the appointment of the chiefs of armed forces but the president surprised him by appointing General Abdul Waheed Kakar as the new chief of army staff (COAS). Nawaz Sharif allowed the streak of impetuosity to get the better of his judgment. In an address to the nation, he strongly denounced the president for conspiring against him. The very next day, the president sacked him by dissolving the National Assembly. The Supreme Court struck down the president's order, the first and so far the only instance of its kind. Nawaz Sharif was back in power but his failure to get rid of the Punjab chief minister, who had the president's backing, persuaded the army chief to give marching orders to the president and the prime minister both.

Nawaz Sharif did not give up the fight. When he returned to power with a huge majority in Parliament in 1997, the first thing he did was to get rid of Article 58-2 (b). He did not display the courtesy to inform president Farooq Leghari, a Benazir nominee-turned-nemesis. Next he managed to secure the Supreme Court chief justice's downfall and his party workers did not hesitate to storm the apex court. Then, president Leghari was forced to quit. In 1998, Nawaz Sharif appealed to the people's hearts by detonating more nuclear devices than India had done some days earlier.

Finally, in another fit of impetuosity, he overreacted to COAS General Jehangir Karamat's suggestion about the formation of a National Security Council, something that had repeatedly been advocated by his own mentor, Zia. He, thus, sowed the seed of his ouster on October 12, 1999 when he tried to repeat the drama by sacking General Pervez Musharraf. Nawaz Sharif not only lost his office but also earned life imprisonment for plane hijacking and was lucky to get a reprieve and become a guest of the Saudi king. The army did not mind his return in 2008 and in a way helped him by withdrawing its support from his party's breakaway faction. He was allowed to win the 2013 election but he was on a short leash. When he continued trying to be a real prime minister, he was abandoned by his long-time patrons.

In his early life, Nawaz Sharif only spent the money that was made by his father, one of his uncles and his younger brother. He saw no harm in making money after gaining power, as it was being amassed by fellow entrepreneurs and others including his patrons in the establishment. Making money appeared to be good regardless of means but he made two critical mistakes. First, he forgot that a politician has no private life and he cannot conceal anything from the public. Secondly, he engaged lawyers to pull him out of trouble and not to prevent him from getting into it.

Nawaz Sharif was surprised when the petition for his trial on the basis of the Panama Leaks was admitted by the Supreme Court. He was perhaps banking on his support of the lawyers' movement, his decision to quit the coalition with PPP on its reluctance to resolve the case of judges sidelined by Musharraf and the contribution his 2009 Long March had made to their restoration. Once the first step to try him had been taken, the writing on the wall became clear.

During Nawaz Sharif's early days in power, the intelligentsia relished joking about his memory or attention span being short. When he was in exile, many wondered whether he was learning any lessons. He was. The first indication of this came when he joined hands with Benazir to sign the Charter of Democracy, a document of great value for the protection and promotion of democracy in Pakistan. Then his party joined the effort to draft and pass the 18th Constitutional Amendment - mainly to devolve power to the provinces but also to rid the Constitution of many anomalies inserted in it by military regimes and quasi-democratic governments.

Yet, he also displayed some impetuous traits of his past. A few months after quitting the ruling coalition in 2008, he abandoned a core principle of the Charter of Democracy by destabilising an elected government through his long march for the restoration of judges. Later, he would also court both the judiciary and the judges to undermine the authority and legitimacy of the PPP's administration.

In his third term as prime minister, however, Nawaz Sharif demonstrated considerable political acumen by giving the National Party, a predominantly Baloch political party, its first chance to make a government in Balochistan and by declining to be a party to obstructing Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf's assumption of power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But his lack of interest in organising his own party as well as his failure to strengthen Parliament made him vulnerable.

As his fall became imminent in the summer of 2017, his camp portrayed him as a victim of his desire to have peaceful neighbourly relations with India. If this story is true, one wonders how history will judge him.

The writer is a senior journalist, peace activist and human rights advocate.

This article was published in the Herald's January 2019 issue. To read more subscribe to the Herald in print.

Mrec Large

Comments (31) Closed

A lame attempt at trying to rehabilitate a financial terrorist. He borrowed on behalf of the State and then looted the borrowed funds with impunity.

PatriotFeb 20, 2019 10:18am

Good summary of the rise and fall of NS.

JRFeb 20, 2019 02:51pm

So far NS has not been punished what he deserves. We had a national enemy for PM for a long time. He purchased "popularity".

Dr.M.M.KhanFeb 20, 2019 03:03pm

This is what happens when small minds take up a big office for which they are not suited. Sharif has no natural talent to be a politician and neither has he acquired one! He sees conspiracy against him all the time.

SennakotFeb 20, 2019 03:34pm

At best, NS has delinquent genes & he cannot stop thinking of making money using power. This is the only quality Sharif family has. Why would he refuse cardiac angiography in Pakistan? This would reveal his true malady

HaiderFeb 20, 2019 04:36pm

I wonder, why people are still fooled by his slogans of democracy.

TKhanFeb 20, 2019 05:00pm

Nice article to highlight his achievements and down play the nepotism, pay for play politics and corrruption. No where it was mentioned the accumulation of wealth beyond means.

TariQ HameediFeb 20, 2019 06:44pm

why you twist the facts by writing such an article why you didn't write that it took really long time for a real son of Pakistan that how they have been looting the money of this poor nation.

ShibFeb 20, 2019 06:57pm

Nice article and good insight of raise and fall of Nawaz Sharif...I guess now the Sharif dynesty is history in Pakistan....

Abdul muqtadirFeb 20, 2019 07:13pm

He was punished because he stood up for Civilian Government and wanted to tame and bring the Generals under the Civilian rule, period.

MONIERFeb 20, 2019 07:38pm

He should be made to return the money he and his family have looted and invested overseas.

Amir Dewani-USA.Feb 20, 2019 07:59pm

A confirmed 'godfather'. A luckiest prisoner having the choicest room, fully furnished, relaxing on flowery bed and eating sugar-free sumptuous 'Halwa' brought from home by his billionaire daughter. Though, they say '10 years of rigorous imprisonment'! Can you believe?

Hassan Nazeer ChaudhryFeb 20, 2019 08:04pm

This article doesn't cover his wealth beyond known means, his inability to explain sources of his huge fortune, the fake documents submitted in the court of law and Panama gate scandal itself. The premise is entirely based on the idea as if his outage has nothing to do with money laundering, corruption, and tax evasion. Besides his children owning properties worth billions and his inability to explain layers of alleged black money as it was parked in many foreign countries. Finally the contradictory statements of his family member, himself and his cronies.

Iran BalochFeb 21, 2019 12:30am

@Syed AhmeD
Nawaz was not punished for trying ti become real prime minister
He was punished for his reckless greed intolerence and incompetence

Syed Hafeez ImranFeb 21, 2019 01:21am

Some have greatness thrust upon them That is NS. he has no qualities to have any position of authority - No acumen, No finesse rather a short memory m a shorter attention scan, illusions of grandeur and power, lust for money, no ethics or morals

the bigger the are the harder they fall

Omer MoradFeb 21, 2019 01:51am

No mention of corruption including details of the Panama papers.

AMJAD KHANFeb 21, 2019 02:20am

The way Nawaz Shareef is portrayed in this article is absolutely disgusting and raises serious questions about the integerity of the writer.Nawaz Shareef and his family consists of International robbers who emptied the National treasury and took kickbacks and commissions for every project.He is a billionaire with a B and should be jailed for ever.

Nasir Mahmood KhanFeb 21, 2019 07:18am

@Syed AhmeD Yea NSWAS bad to the bone.

SaqashFeb 21, 2019 09:13am

How could anyone be taken as the "real PM" when all they want to do is to spend their eids in London and London only. NS and Co. Is in Pakistan to brutally rule and loot and it to serve. Their home country is UK... not Pakistan.

IllogicalFeb 23, 2019 12:02am

@Abdul muqtadir you should be ashamed for supporting corrupt person.

M. EmadFeb 23, 2019 02:26am

Crime: small.
Punishment: BIG.

OmairFeb 23, 2019 08:45pm

Finally Dawn has the guts to speak on NS crimes albeit benign. Shows how bold this loter from Lahore is, after 40 yrs of plundering he still enjoys the support of voters and system. If system cannot call a spade then it better be demolished

THE MORNING STARFeb 24, 2019 10:12am

Really talk of Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark.
Like Nehru's book of 400 pages and only 2 pages of mention about Jinnah.
Similarly this article makes no mention of the relentless opposition launched by Imran.

Akil AkhtarFeb 25, 2019 07:43am

What a poor article.....seems like written by a PMLN stooge...

AamirFeb 25, 2019 08:04am

At least he faced the courts and the law. Very few people do that in Pakistan.

umairFeb 25, 2019 08:22am

Yadhav is in ICJ because of NS government inability to absorb pressure.

Ja;a;uddin S. HussainFeb 25, 2019 08:23am

NS deserves no mercy. Period.

joeFeb 25, 2019 08:39am

Pakistani justice system, NAB are all freaking JOKE.
if he is guilty throw him in Jail accordingly
if he found not guilty let he free

MGFeb 25, 2019 09:16am

I support Nawaz. His only crime is trying his best to curb terrorism and fundamentalism.

anees zedFeb 25, 2019 09:41am

" No politician in the country has been more fortunate than him."
Please read "corrupt" instead of "fortunate".

N. Rahim, TorontoFeb 26, 2019 03:39am

Sorry, he was never a "real" prime minister or even tried to be one. He only wanted the obstacles confronting him to be demolished so that he can steal. Simple.